Steve Paikin looks at the unexpected toppling of incumbent mayors across Ontario yesterday:
Did we just have our own “tea party” Ontario?
All over the province, incumbents were feeling the wrath of the electorate.
In the capital city, Rob Ford cruised to victory, besting George Smitherman by more than 90,000 votes. His margin of victory was bigger than David Miller’s when he “swept” into office with his broom seven years ago.
But it wasn’t only Toronto. Incumbent mayors lost in Hamilton, Ottawa, Burlington, Vaughan, London, Thunder Bay, and Sudbury.
In Mississauga, where Hazel McCallion is accustomed to winning with more than 90% of the vote, she only won re-election with 76%.
[. . .]
A few weeks ago, none of these results was seen as obvious.
[. . .]
The conventional wisdom in local politics is that name recognition counts for so much. The power of incumbency is fantastic.
Not last night. If anything, the opposite was true. If you were in, you had a target on you. And precious few escaped it, including many incumbent city councillors in Toronto.
A stunning night for upsets. A big night for turnout (more than 50% in Toronto…twice the normal turnout rate).
An Ontario Tea Party would be a good idea . . .
